


"For me, it was you."

by cravatty (averyblue)



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Friendship/Love, Inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of other artists, may be ooc bc i'm not from this fandom i'm sorry orz i just wanted to write a bday gift, mentions of death and alternate dimensions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 06:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19847350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averyblue/pseuds/cravatty
Summary: “Don’t get too attached, Daniel. Your Seongwoo isn’t this Seongwoo.”





	"For me, it was you."

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ramenrulz8P](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramenrulz8P/gifts).



> this is my birthday gift for my wonderful friend, Shredz, who loves wanna one with her whole heart and deserves wonderful things for her day. sadly i'm not really familiar with lots of wanna one stuff so i kinda failed on that department hahaha i'm sorry if characters are ooc and if the story is kind of ???? but ultimately i wrote this for her and what matters is she understands what's going on XD
> 
> plot is heavily based on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse so anyone who tries to read this without watching the movie may get confused (so please do watch the movie, it's amazing :3)

“He’s not ready.”

Youngmin nods. Chungha agrees. Woojin looks satisfied with fellow Spider-people sharing the same stance. He glances at  _ Lee  _ Hoseok (Daniel has to keep this in mind, since  _ Shin  _ Hoseok is the first Spider-Man of this universe that just passed away), their unofficial ‘leader’, waiting for his words on the matter.

“I think you guys pressured him too much,” Lee Hoseok says, scratching the nape of his neck. “Guys, you know how hard it was for us when we were starting out.”

“Yeah. You guys could’ve been less cut-throat towards Seongwoo,” Daniel quickly interjects. Woojin’s glare darts at him immediately.

“If you were anything like Daniel hyung from my universe, I’d definitely know why you’re saying that,” the youngest Spider-person quips. Daniel stays vigilant despite the full attention of everyone on him, including that of  _ Shin _ Hoseok’s mother. 

“Woojin-ah,” Youngmin admonishes softly, placing a hand on the teenage boy’s shoulder before giving Daniel a repentant glance. “You’re right… maybe we got carried away.”

“But you aren’t in the clear either, Daniel,” Chungha adds, crossing her arms. “You were the one who started it.”

His cheeks flush at the accusation, intensified by the beautiful but sharp stare Chungha sends his way. All he did was ask Seongwoo if he could really shoot electricity from his fingers…

“Daniel was just curious,” Hoseok says in his defense, placing a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “None of us could do that, and I’ve seen that in action, I’m telling you guys.”

He looks at the oldest Spider-person in the room with a small thankful smile, but his eyes can’t help but stare at the deep shoulder gash peeking from the straight tear on Hoseok’s Spider-Man suit.

_ “Maybe Hoseok-ssi wouldn’t have been wounded if I knew how to use or control my powers.” _

Daniel sighs. It really isn’t Seongwoo’s fault.

“If I take responsibility for what I said, will you guys be less harsh on him when he comes back?”

“If he comes back,” he hears Woojin mumble. Youngmin elbows the boy lightly on the arm.

“We all want to go home, Woojinnie,” Chungha calmly says, smiling apologetically at the youngest. “But we have to give Seongwoo-ssi the benefit of the doubt too. Hoseok oppa is right, we shouldn’t forget we started out like him.”

Woojin nods but doesn’t say anything more. Daniel figures that the youngest, still sixteen years of age, would take a responsible Spider-Woman’s advice or a tenured Spider-Man’s words more seriously than those of Daniel’s. (Or Youngmin’s, based on what he’s observed within their twenty minutes of knowing each other, but Woojin seems to stop pushing his luck when Youngmin wordlessly signals him to.) He watches the rest of their group spread out and look over different areas of Shin Hoseok’s high tech hideout — Youngmin and Woojin gravitate towards the ‘Spider-vehicles’ while Chungha checks out Shin Hoseok’s collection of ‘Spider-suits’ — and feels a literal weight on his shoulder.

“Are you going after him?” asks Hoseok. Daniel nods in reply.

“Seongwoo hyung needs someone to be there for him… like how we all had someone, right?” he asks.

Hoseok laughs softly, surprisingly with a less tired smile. “Yeah. Funny… mine was Minhyuk. You know, the guy Other Me married. But in my universe… he died.”

Daniel presses his lips together. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. It’s part of our story,” Hoseok says in reply, chuckling softly. “Who was your trusted someone when you were still starting out?”

Daniel stays silent as he stares at the elevator door nearby. It’s enough an answer for Hoseok.

“Don’t get too attached, Daniel,” Hoseok says, glancing wistfully at the direction of Shin Hoseok’s mother and Chungha conversing with each other. “Your Seongwoo isn’t this Seongwoo.”

* * *

_ Alright, people. Let’s start at the beginning — my name is Kang Daniel. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last two years, I’ve been the one and only Spider-Man. _

_ Now I help around in my mother’s restaurant. Won skateboarding gigs and currently trying out for the biggest one of the year. Made new friends but keeping the old ones closer — shoutout to Jisung hyung and Jaehwannie. Still studying for college entrance stuff. Saved the city a thousand times— _

_ I wish I could say the same for my best friend, Ong Seongwoo. _

_...now I save everyone else.  _

* * *

The skyline of this dimension’s Seoul is almost identical to the one back in Daniel’s own. Mostly the same buildings, just different establishments or different advertisements labeled on them. He finds the Pepsi ad near his usual train station replaced by a Coca Cola ad, a certain celebrity birthday board replaced with another, bus colors for two different destinations switched — it’d be maddening for Daniel if he didn’t have his powers.

But thankfully, he has his webslingers on his side (or more specifically, his wrists) to take him around the modern concrete-and-glass jungle, letting him locate Seongwoo easily through his stealthy swinging and parkouring on high-rise rooftops.

He finds Seongwoo gazing at the sunset-painted sky on top of a thirty-floor condominium. Daniel tries to bite back a flurry of sentimental thoughts when he realizes this is the same building his Seongwoo had lived in back then.

“Whoever you are, I’m sorry,” Seongwoo suddenly says, not turning back at all to check. Daniel’s guessing his Spidey-senses are still developing.

“It’s me.”

Seongwoo turns around immediately and their gazes lock. Daniel feels his heartstrings tug and tie themselves into knots. 

“Daniel.”

A breath. “M-May I sit next to you?” he asks. Seongwoo nods after five seconds of staying still, and Daniel wonders if the older hesitated with his decision. 

But that’s a yes, an opportunity, and Daniel slowly walks next to the new Spider-Man of this dimension before crouching down to sit, his legs dangling at the edge of the building. He leans back, supporting his upper body with his arms resting behind him, and he flashes a confident smile when Seongwoo looks at him in worry. 

_ He’s still not used to… being used to heights,  _ Daniel thinks in amusement, laughing softly when he remembers the time he swung his Seongwoo around the city for the first time.

For their first date.

He looks away from Seongwoo before more memories flood in. It’s better to focus on the sky, knowing that perhaps it looks the same in his own dimension even if everything underneath it is different. 

“I meant what I said before you left,” he says. “I know you’d be a good Spider-Man.”

“Are you here to take me back?” Seongwoo asks. Daniel doesn’t look at him as he nods in reply, but he can feel the growing anxiety in the older boy. He can’t blame Seongwoo at all, remembering the jabs and kicks and trips he went through earlier while being asked the big question of ‘Can you always get back up after getting knocked down?’ 

“They shouldn’t have done that. We all have our own ordeals to teach us how to get up no matter what,” Daniel says.

“Then shouldn’t getting up in a situation that isn’t an ordeal be easier?” Seongwoo retorts, sighing loudly. Daniel bows his head, saddened to hear the ache in Seongwoo’s voice. He watches the cars zoom by like crawling ants underneath them. 

“It was pretty stressful mentally,” he tries, twiddling his thumbs. If there’s something he can do for this Seongwoo, it’s to comfort him the way he did with his own Seongwoo and just hope they both process thoughts in a similar way. “I’ve never met another Spider-person in my dimension, but I think I’d be pressured having to fill the shoes of a great Spider-Man who went out of commission on a life-threatening mission.”

Seongwoo chuckles softly, and Daniel can’t help but look at him. His timid smile is still bright and beautiful—

_ Your Seongwoo isn’t this Seongwoo. _

“You know that’s both comforting and also not, at the same time,” the older boy says, facing Daniel with a soft look. “But thanks for getting my situation, Daniel.”

“My Spidey-sense is pretty great for empathizing,” he jests.  _ Or you’re just too similar to my Seongwoo. _

“I wish my Spidey-sense would be able to do that too,” Seongwoo replies, his weak smile faltering into lips curled down. “I don’t know. I really want to help you all stop the corporation and avenge Shin Hoseok-ssi, but it’s like… only you truly believe that I can.”

Daniel frowns. “That’s not true. Lee Hoseok-ssi does.”

“Doesn’t look like it. He didn’t speak up much earlier while Woojin was bombarding me with… truths that I’m pretty weak.”

He pulls himself away from the edge of the building to face Seongwoo, crossing one leg over the other as he looks at the older in the eyes. 

_ They look so… the same. _

_ Focus, Daniel. _

“You’re not weak, Seongwoo hyung. You’re just starting out. I should know because I’ve been there too,” he begins. “And Lee Hoseok-ssi has… a lot on his mind. The Doc Ock that attacked you earlier? In my dimension, he’s Im Changkyun, a classmate of mine. In Hoseok-ssi’s dimension, Changkyun is his boyfriend. You noticed how shaken up he was earlier after you guys escaped the hideout, right?”

Seongwoo slowly nods, biting his lower lip.

“And he must be rattled too… having to meet Lee Minhyuk and Shin Hoseok-ssi’s mom.”

“I know,” Seongwoo whispers. “Hoseok-ssi told me they’re both… gone in his dimension.”

At least Seongwoo’s getting it. “You have to understand that every other Spider-person you met today, they’re all so preoccupied in wanting to go home that they aren’t thinking straight. Woojin can’t shut up about missing a date, and it’s why he’s probably so irritable.”

“I see,” the older says, his gaze shifting to the sky. “But you look so relaxed compared to everyone else…”

“When you get used to being Spider-Man, you learn to love the uncertainty at times,” he replies, laughing. Should he take that as a compliment? 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. I’ve heard all your stories and found the common denominators. You get bitten, you struggle learning, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t save everyone,” Seongwoo says.

Daniel slowly nods. “That’s… that’s true.” 

It’s not a perfect elaboration of the Spider-Man origin formula, but Seongwoo’s getting there. Daniel doesn’t want to correct him because the heartache he’d have to deal with if he knows  _ that  _ one critical condition of being Spider-Man may wreck him.

“I’m scared, Daniel,” Seongwoo admits. “This is a huge responsibility, and I don’t know if I can live with the burden of knowing I have the power to save people… but still fail to save everyone I can.”

The words pierce Daniel on the chest. If only he can spare Seongwoo from the inevitable pain he has to endure. And if he’s anything like the Seongwoo he knew, then Daniel knows the worst case scenario would be the older boy pushing away heroics if he’s too affected by the death of his  _ someone. _

But Daniel has survived it, and all he can give to Seongwoo is some hope. “It’s okay to be scared, hyung. I worry about that all the time, but the best we can do is move forward and forgive ourselves.”

Seongwoo looks at him somberly. “You talk like you’ve experienced it.”

Half a minute passes before Daniel nods. “I have, and I always remember the life I haven’t saved so I’d be motivated to do better all the time.”

“Like Lee Hoseok-ssi with his Lee Minhyuk,” Seongwoo muses. Silence wraps around them for a few seconds before their eyes lock again. Daniel can read Seongwoo’s gaze, curious on who had been the Lee Minhyuk to Daniel’s Lee Hoseok.

_ For me, it was you. _

“For me, I lost my best friend, and I don’t want it to happen again,” he says.

Slowly, Seongwoo’s hand rests on his, a pained look on his face. “I’m sorry.”

It takes every fiber of Daniel’s being to keep himself from tearing up. Hearing those words in  _ his Seongwoo’s  _ voice, looking at someone who’s  _ his Seongwoo _ but also isn’t, brings back memories of his guilt and misery after  _ his Seongwoo’s _ passing. He holds back apologizing to Seongwoo —  _ Your Seongwoo isn’t this Seongwoo —  _ and forces the brightest smile he can. 

“Don’t… I’ve grown from that experience,” he says.  _ And at least I now know that in some other universe, that you’re still alive. _


End file.
